Luke 5:27 KJV
[27] And after these things he went forth, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he said unto him, Follow me.
Our service to God is a privilege and not a right. If we are to be judged by what we do, no one is truly worthy to serve him. We can see this in the story of Levi, a tax collector, and Jesus. Just after Jesus had healed the lame man whom his friends had assisted through the house roof, he met Levi, a wealthy and influential man in the city. Despite his position, people did not like him because they believed he was a sinner who collected from the people more than what was assigned.
While others saw Levi as a sinner, Jesus saw him differently. Beyond a sinner, he saw a man with a broken heart seeking repentance, and he called him. Levi, despite his wealth and influence, abandoned all and followed him. The same man society regarded as a sinner was willing to let go of his wealth to follow Jesus, not because wealth was not a thing of value, but because he valued Jesus more than gold.
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And just like the joy in the heart of a new convert, we saw how Levi made a banquet to honor Jesus and went about calling his friends to the meal. But then, the idea of eating and drinking with a tax collector did not sit well with the scribes and Pharisees, and they began to criticize Jesus for eating and drinking with a sinner, a practice that signifies acceptance and fellowship, breaking the custom they had kept in place. But Jesus, having perceived what they murmured about, told them he came not for the healthy but for the unhealthy, whom the people considered sinners.
A careful look at it will reveal that society had tagged certain people as sinners while others as holy, and associating with such people would defile their holiness. But Jesus changed that narrative, showing us that sinners are also men the heavenly kingdom desires. While men see the men's acts, God sees the heart beyond the physical deeds. Everyone is a candidate for grace and is therefore eligible for repentance and God's love.
We cannot be ambassadors for Jesus and hate sinners, because our calling is specifically for the sinners who are considered unhealthy. There are men like Levi, waiting for Jesus's calling, and all that God desires is for men to be available in the field to bring in the harvest.
